Most graduates want to work abroad, poll shows

By Kan Chih-chi and Jason Pan / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Mon, Mar 03, 2014 - Page 3

Most young Taiwanese want to go abroad to work, a recent survey by online job board yes123 showed.

In the survey of university students, 78.7 percent of the respondents with undergraduate or postgraduate degrees said they are considering going abroad to find work.

Japan was their first choice, while China and US came in second and third respectively, the survey showed.

Among undergraduate respondents, 90.7 percent of the students indicated they would enter the job market after graduating, and just 9.3 percent said they plan to continue their studies in postgraduate school.

For those entering the job market, the top three desired fields are the information-technology industry, government and the tourism and leisure industry, the survey showed.

The expectation for starting monthly salary is at NT$36,222 for people with a postgraduate degree, and at NT$28,854 for those with an undergraduate degree, the survey showed.

According to yes123, the salary expectations exceed what companies offer new hires, at NT$27,065 for those with a postgraduate degree, and NT$24,964 for those with an undergraduate degree.

Yes123 public relations manager Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said the result indicates the declining value of postgraduate studies for the current socioeconomic situation, as companies are willing to offer just NT$2,000 more in starting salary for people with a postgraduate degree.

“Jobseekers will make an assessment of their returns on investing in further education. That is why we see that more than 90 percent of respondents prefer to enter the workforce instead of enrolling in postgraduate studies,” Yang said.

The survey, conducted from Feb. 18 through Monday last week, collected 942 valid samples and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.19 percentage points.